The dream of every summer resident is to reap a rich harvest from a small plot with a minimum of planting care. That is why most gardeners prefer winter varieties of garlic, which are distinguished by their early ripening and high yield. The varietal diversity of garlic is great, but the Siberian giant garlic variety is especially popular among Siberians.
Features of the variety
Type growing a variety of garlic are divided into two varieties: spring and winter. Spring crops are planted in the spring, and winter crops are planted before winter.
Siberian giant is a winter, bolting, mid-season variety.From germination in spring to full ripening, it takes from 90 to 115 days.
Plant characteristics:
- garlic has from 5 to 7 green leaves, with a slight waxy coating;
- grows up to 70 cm in height;
- flat-round heads;
- dry husks become white with purple streaks;
- the bulbs are large with a powerful arrow, the weight of each garlic can reach 100 grams;
- the head has from 6 to 9 cloves in a mauve shell;
- in terms of the content of essential oils, the Siberian giant belongs to the table varieties; it has a sharp-sweet taste and rich aroma;
- It is frost-resistant and stores well.
Thanks to its excellent taste and appetizing aroma, Siberian Giant garlic is excellent for universal use in cooking.
Growing and care
When choosing a variety, you should take into account the description of the plant, planting time and the climatic conditions of the region. As a rule, the names speak for themselves. For example, the Siberian giant is intended for cultivation in Siberia, or more precisely, in the Omsk, Tomsk and Novosibirsk regions.
Winter varieties of garlic are planted in the fall, from the end of September until the first frost. With the arrival of spring, the growing season and active growth of the plant begin, and already in mid-July the harvest can be harvested.
Preparation
To get a rich harvest, before planting it is necessary to select seed material and prepare the beds:
- On the day of planting, the heads should be divided into cloves, carefully examining each one to ensure the quality of the planting material.
- For preventive purposes, the teeth should be soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulfate on the day of planting.
- It is advisable to choose a place for the garden bed on the sunny side.
Ideal predecessors for garlic would be grains, as well as zucchini, squash and cucumbers.
Garlic after garlic can be planted no earlier than after 4 years.
Since the root system of garlic is fibrous and does not go deep into the ground, but is located in the upper layer of soil, it needs soil rich in nutrients for full growth.
Fertilizers that need to be applied in late August or early September will help increase soil fertility. If the soil is acidic, you need to add ash to it. After applying fertilizer, the future bed should be treated with a solution of copper sulfate (40 grams per 10 liters) or spilled with a pink solution of potassium permanganate.
Planting garlic
Winter garlic can be planted as soon as cold weather sets in, but there is no frost on the soil yet. Scheme:
- A two-line planting pattern is preferred. The gap between seeds should be 10-12 cm, between “lines” - 10-15 cm, and between rows - 35-40 cm. The depth of the grooves should be 6-8 cm. If the garlic is deeply buried, it will grow smaller, and if it is not deep enough, the seeds may freeze.
- The cloves should be placed in the holes in a vertical position, bottom down. It is strictly not recommended to press them into the ground, otherwise they may be damaged.
After planting, the furrows should be covered with earth and the bed should be leveled with a rake, but not compacted. You can also use compost instead of soil for these purposes.
Care instructions
The seeds have been sown, the bed is ready, now we need to protect the seedlings from frost in winter. To do this, the soil on top is mulched with grass without seeds and inflorescences or dry leaves; you can cover the bed with non-woven material. Care:
- After the snow melts, when the first shoots appear, you should carry out the first fertilizing with urea (1 tablespoon per 1 sq. m) and thoroughly loosen the soil between the rows.
- In the summer, caring for garlic involves periodically loosening and weeding.
- The plant does not need frequent watering; during growth it is enough to water only 2-3 times, but always with warm water.
- Repeated feeding should be done when the plant forms 2–4 leaves, and only with mineral mixtures. Manure negatively affects the quality of the future harvest: garlic tops grow abundantly, the bulbs become loose, the risk of infection with fungal diseases increases, and the shelf life decreases.
Experienced gardeners advise not to cut off all the arrows, but to leave a couple or three on the largest plants. In the future, they will help determine the harvest date. When the shells on the arrows burst, you should dig up a couple of heads and make sure the garlic is ripe.
The most common diseases and pests
Garlic, like other vegetable crops, is damaged by pests and is susceptible to various diseases. To grow healthy bulbs, it is necessary to detect the problem in a timely manner and get rid of it.
Rust
A fungal disease, one of the most dangerous for garlic. The disease appears on the leaves. In the form of small, slightly convex spots of a rusty color. With further development, the spots cover the entire plant and become black, and the leaves wither and dry out.
To prevent the appearance of rust, preventive maintenance of seed material is carried out before planting. To do this, the teeth are placed in an oven heated to +35–40 degrees and left there for 10–12 hours.
If spots do appear, leaves with signs of disease must be immediately removed and the plants sprayed with specialized products. 1% Bordeaux mixture helps a lot, as well as solutions of copper sulfate and tar soap.
Stem nematode
One of the most insidious pests that can destroy the entire crop. A nematode is a microscopic white worm, the size of which does not exceed 1.5 mm. They lay eggs in the bottoms of garlic. Nematodes overwinter in bulbs or in soil, preferring heavy, clayey soils. The pest can survive in dry heads of garlic for more than 4 years. Stem nematodes feed on plant sap, penetrating into them through the bottom of the bulbs.
When damaged, garlic begins to lag behind in development, the stem becomes thicker, and the leaves turn yellow. Plants infected later do not differ much from healthy ones, but upon careful examination, white spots can be found on the heads. If an infected bulb enters storage, the nematodes will spread and can cause dry rot.
On clay soils, adding peat and sand when digging the area will help prevent the appearance of stem nematodes. As a preventative measure, before planting garlic, you should spill the garden bed with a saline solution (1 tablespoon of salt per 3 liters of water).
The Siberian giant is unpretentious in care; even inexperienced gardeners can grow it. At the same time, it shows excellent results, even despite the difficult weather conditions of Siberia, and the size of the heads proves the right choice of name. The Siberian giant is truly a giant garlic.
